Light in the Dark
by deadly sorrow
Summary: She is an agent of SHIELD with no memory of her past. Quickly thrown into a conflict bigger than herself, she is forced to confront ancient memories and a past she once dismissed as dreams.
1. Arrival of the Past

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters. **

* * *

_The air is cold, pressing on her lungs, freezing her breath as it escapes her damaged lungs._

_Scenes from a battle flash past her eyes, the scene blurry and out of focus. Her head spins violently as hands touch her arms, forces her to stand._

_"Lady Kára, we must leave!"_

_The man all but drags her with him, leads her from the carnage surrounding them until a shout shatters the air._

_"Thor, behind you!" The burly man turns too late, is thrown from her side with one blow. Her eyes raise to see a blurry, large blue figure with unforgiving red eyes._

_"Killing you will break him." A sneer-like smile slides on the creatures face, red-eyes flickering over her head before he raises a spear._

_All she knows is sharp, freezing pain as it radiates through her chest, feels the warm rushing of her life as it ebbs away._

_A pain-filled scream echoes, her eyes raise to meet shattered, emerald eyes as she falls backwards into dark nothingness._

_Kára. Kára! KARA!_

* * *

"Kerry!" She shot up, knocking heads with the man leaning over her as he shouts her name. "uh!" He grunts out, sending her a sharp look as he reached up and rubbed his forehead.

She looks around wildly, her eyes wide with shock and horror as her heart refused to stop beating through her chest. He sees and his brow furrowed with worry before he stepped closer and seated himself at the edge of her bed.

"Kerry, are you all right?" He reached for her, causing her eyes to snap to his hand and her own to grab his wrist in a tight grip before she even knew what she was doing. She jerked, her eyes clearing before she released his wrist, the hand rising to cover her wide mouth.

"Shit, Clint!" She fussed, raising her hand to check the damage she had inflicted, only for the archer to bat her hands away. "Sorry."

"Well, now I know why Natasha is always bruised when you train together." A faint smirk appeared, her own lips curl into a sheepish smile. "You pack a punch, Kerry."

She shrugged a shoulder, flipping the sheets off her body before she stood and padded across the floor. She reached into the small closet, pulling out her uniform before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Any reason you're skulking about in my room?" The door is left ajar and he answers back nonchalantly, his taciturnity no surprise to her after all this time.

"Oh, I just needed to fetch you." He's reclining on her bed when she walked back in, examining the point of an arrow before he looked up and stowed it in his quiver. "Coulson needs us."

"For?" Her eyebrow raised and the amused smirk once more crosses his face.

"The Tesseract."

0o0o0o0o0

"Agent Lunare." She looked up to see Fury approaching, she falling into step with him when he reached her side.

"Director Fury." He nodded at her, his good eye narrowing when they reached the lab full of panicking scientists. She gravitates towards where Clint is, aware that her job right now isn't to put in her two cents about trying to keep a cube made of limitless energy stowed away in the basement.

The conversation reached her ears as she climbed the stairs and made it to Clint's side, placing a soft hand on his shoulder. His grip on the railing tightened, though he gave no other indication of her touch.

"Talk to me, Doctor." Fury commanded and she watched as the harried looking doctor ducked around the CMS machine. The Tesseract flared again, another flare ring shooting out, and caused the concern on Selvig's face to grow.

"Director." His lack of response caused the frown on Fury's face to grow, though Selvig paid little attention and continued to bustle around the still flaring Tesseract towards the unhappy Director.

"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury questioned.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving." Selvig commented as he reached Fury, turning back around and walking with the other man towards the Tesseract.

Kerry turned them out and leaned on the railing next to Clint, watching the glowing Tesseract with mild interest. She knew how harmful the Tesseract could be, they all did, adding to her confusion as to why they decided to keep it and not have Thor take it back with him.

She'd never met the God in person, only heard stories from Clint about the situation in New Mexico that she'd missed. The assignment with Natasha had pulled her from the States, to some mountainous valley in the middle of Norway.

"Agent Barton, Agent Lunare, report." Fury's voice came through their earpiece. She sighed and gripped the railing, vaulting towards the rappel line a few feet away, Clint following.

"I gave you both this assignment so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury chastised as they walked through the lab.

"Well, I see better from a distance. Not sure about Lunare." She sent Clint a flat look for throwing her under the bus and Fury's good eye turned to her.

"I may have...offended some of the scientists. Selvig thought it best if I stayed a reasonable distance away."

One of the dark brows raised but Fury said nothing, his eye shifting back to Clint.

"Are either of you seeing anything that might set this thing off?" He questioned as the panicked vocie of a scientist was heard through the din.

"Doctor, it's spiking again!" She watched as Selvig, the frown on his brow so deep it looks permanent, hurried to the nameless woman before she returned her attention to the two men.

"No one's come or gone." Clint assured as they reached the Tesseract, Fury proceeding to climb up and examine it closely. "It's oven is clean. No contacts, no IMs." He shot a look back at Selvig before returning his attention back to Fury. "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

"At this end?" That seemed to disturb Fury, and Kerry nodded, looking back at the now almost terrified looking doctors before she spoke.

"The cube is a doorway to the other end of space." She supplied and Fury's brow lowered, his good eye thoughtful. "Doors usually open both ways."

Fury's response is halted when the Tesseract suddenly glows brighter, a loud boom echoing around the facility as the unleashed energy shakes it violently. She stumbled back, Clint's arms catching her elbow before he tugged her away from the cube, Fury at their side.

The rings flared and glowed brighter, still making an eerie crackling sound before a burst of energy shot out of the cube in the form of a beam that shot towards the end of the platform wired to the CMS device.

The energy, though it's going the opposite way, suddenly hits Kerry and she feels her knees buckle. Gasping, she tightened her grip her Clint's arm, forcing him to haul her up, Fury lending a hand.

She watched, wide-eyed as her chest began to compress, the beam suddenly shoot out the Tesseract energy. Her grip became white-knuckled as a vortex appeared, slowly giving way to what looked like...a portal.

The portal, which resembled more of a black hole in her mind, showed off what she assumed was space, based on the Tesseract's ability, before a gust of blue energy clouds swept through the facility.

The effect was blinding and, she gripped Clint all the more tightly when the energy rushed through her, her dreams rising up from the depths of her mind where she pushed them.

When visibility finally returned, she caught the last dredges of the energy cloud sweeping to the top of the ceiling about the platform before dissipating.

The eerie stillness of the air caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. Cold, icy dread forms in her stomach when she the heavy, dark sound reached her ears.

Breathing.

She watched, in fascinated horror, as the smoke surrounding the platform cleared and revealed a kneeling figure.

She caught sight of dark, dark hair before the figure looked up, an almost frightening, mischievous smile that tugged at her mind before she pushed it away. The man looked up, his emerald eyes locked with hers and the smile was wiped from his face.

She saw his lips move, aware that she was too far to be able to hear but, she felt his words almost like a sensual caress.

_'Kára?'_

* * *

**Thoguhts? Comments? Questions?**


	2. Hidden Secrets

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot and any unrecognizable characters.**

* * *

A dull roar started in her ears when the emerald eyes staring at her narrowed. She heard Fury's shout, the sound faraway, like static in her mind.

"Sir, please put down the spear!"

The strange man sent her one last, searing look, before he looked at Fury, then at the spear in his hand.

Without warning, he suddenly took aim and fired, the blue light heading towards Fury and Clint.

And her.

She regained enough sense to dive to the side, tumbling before she righted herself, reaching for her gun. A quick glance showed Clint and Fury out of immediate harm and she lifted her gun.

She watched as he dove at other agents, stabbing one through the chest, sending another blast at another. The bullets fired did nothing, merely bouncing harmlessly off his body. He flung out a hand and she caught the glint of the knives before they were embedded in the soft flesh of the agents' necks.

"Lunare!" Her attention shifted to Fury, who is on his feet. "Get Selvig out of here!" Her hesitation made his face tighten "That's an order!"

Without a backward glance, she dove towards the horrified scientist, narrowly dodging another blue blast that hit the agent next to her, throwing him across the room. He hit the wall with a sickening thud, making her stop briefly, until another blast sent another agent flying past her.

"Tempest!" She spun around in time to see the man in front of Clint, the spear pressed against Clint's chest as a blue light spread from it. The man looked towards her, a smug looking grin spreading across his face when his eyes met hers.

Horrified, she watched as the blue light spread across Clint's chest, heading towards his eyes. Black clouded them, covering up the entire eye before it faded, revealing an eerie shade of blue in place of Clint's normal color.

"Lunare!" Fury's command came from the Tesseract, she dares a look to see his wide eye directed onto the scene in front of them. Her attention is drawn back to Clint when she sees him holster his gun, all signs of aggression gone.

She ducked around to Fury, staring at the stranger as he proceeded to place the other agents under his control. Her relief that he didn't notice her moment is short lived when she sees more of her fellow agents fall under his spell. Fury carefully removed the cube, placing it in a storage container before he straightened and turned to the exit.

She flanked him, gun cocked and stiffened when the man's voice sounded. A shiver ravaged down her spine, his words brushing over her heatedly, sensually.

"Please don't." He turned to face them, his face pale. "I still need that."

His eyes shift to hers and another shiver wracked down her spine. Still, her gun is raised when he takes a step forward, Fury saving her from saying any of the words rumbling around in her head.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury doesn't turn around, merely twisting his head to look over his shoulder.

"Of course it does." The man's voice hardened, though still carried a smooth, almost seductive quality to it. "I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki, of Asgard." His pronouncement was met with shock. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

She catches sight of Selvig, kneeling next to his unconscious assistant. His attention snapped to the stranger-Loki, and his brow furrowed.

"Loki," Selvig wheezed out, still in shock. "Brother of Thor?"

She watched as the expression on Loki's face turned murderous, hitting something deep within her that she violently pushed down. Focus was key right now, if she didn't hold onto it, she'd be dead.

She chanced a look at Clint's blank face. Or worse.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury turned around, his arm raised as he tried to sooth the situation.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." The Asgardian shot back smoothly, his eyes going back to Carrie for the briefest of moments before they drifted back to Fury.

"Are you planning to step on us?" The director asked incredulously and she pressed towards him, the green stare focusing on her again.

"I come with glad tidings." Loki promised, beginning to pace as he spoke. "Of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Fury echoed dubiously as she stared at Selvig, who was less than two feet away from the madman.

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie."

She swallowed, holding back the choked, most likely hysterical, laughter that threatened to bubble past her throat. She turned to look at the Director, her brow furrowed at Loki's so called 'promise'.

"Once you accept that, in your heart," Loki spun around smoothly, the spear lifted to press against Selvig's unprotected chest. She stiffened at the feeling around her, the energy pressing against her body that radiated from the spear the man held. "You will know peace."

Selvig's eyes clouded black briefly, before the same eerie blue covered his eyes as well.

"Boss," she murmured at Fury, the twitch of his eye the only acknowledgment she gained. "There's something..._off_ about that spear."

Her energy sensing ability was how SHIELD found her. That and the giant hole she'd accidently punched through the wall of a theatre.

"Yeah, you say 'peace'," Fury stated, keeping his voice level. "I kind of think you mean the other thing."

Movement in her peripheral forced her to turn and it's Clint she's aiming for now as he stalked towards Loki.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling." He admitted to Loki, glancing up at the mass of blue energy collecting in the dome above them. "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on top of us." He stopped at Loki's side, unaware of the glare she directed at him. "He intends to bury us."

"Like the pharaohs of old." She snapped, her eyes narrowing when she gained Loki's attentions once again.

"He's right!" Selvig has moved to his beeping computer. "The portal is collapsing on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

Loki looks between his enthralled and took a step forward, his eyes going to her when she raised her gun higher.

"Don't." She murmured stiffly. "Come any closer."

He seems more amused than anything, his eyes flickering at her weapon before his eyes locked with her own again.

"I do as I please." The expression on his face smoothed and she watched despair, grief and relief flash across his face before he takes another step forward. She forces herself to take a step back and, with mild curiosity, observes pain flash across his face. "Kára-"

* * *

_The little girl plays in the courtyard, smiling with joy as her mother leads her through the garden, her delight fading when a tall, stern faced man comes towards them._

_"Lady Sigrún," he addressed her mother, looking down at her with a stern face and gentle eyes. "This is your little one?"_

_Her mother drops into a light curtsey, smiling warmly up at the God in front of them. "Yes, my King."_

_He kneels down to her level, what could almost be a smile twitching at his lips._

_"What is your name, young one?" _

_She observes him for several seconds, her little brow drawn in thought before she smiles widely at the man, her expression bringing light to her burnt sienna eyes._

_"Kára," she cheerfully announces, quickly remembering herself. "My King." She tries to copy her mother's movements, only to end up looking like an awkward bow._

_"Father!" A voice calls and all three look to see two boys, clad in royal tunics, one blonde and one raven-haired. They come to stop before them, the blonde one grinning widely while the dark-haired one looks more cautious._

_"Who is this, father?" He asks, looking at the two woman with barely-veiled curiosity. The man stood, resting a hand on the tops of each of his sons' heads._

_"This is Lady Sigrún and her daughter, Lady Kára. They have come to live at court, to await the resurrection of Lady Sigrún's husband, Lord Helgi." _

_"Hello, my ladies. I am Thor" Thor bows deeply, a cheerful grin lighting up his face, though her attention stays on the quiet, dark-haired boy to Thor's side. "And this," he claps a small hand on his brother's shoulder. "Is Loki."_

_"Hello, Thor." She greets politely, turning to the other prince. "Hello, Loki." She smiles shyly at him, blinks in surprise when he approaches and twists his hand to reveal a pale, golden flower. "What is this for?"_

_"For you," he hands her the small flower, a small smiling lights up his pale face when she takes it cheerfully and places it behind her ear._

_"Thank you, Prince Loki." The King clears his throat and she blushes lightly, though Loki makes no move to release her hand and she finds comfort, comfort she's been denied since her father's death, in his touch._

_"Loki, Thor, please show Lady Kára around the palace. I must speak with Lady Sigrún."_

_With little warning, Thor grabs her other hand and tugs her along, forces her to follow his enthusiasm with glee._

_"Come, Kara! We'll show you the whole palace!" He cheers, Loki joining his side with a grin of his own before both princes and the half-Valkyrie are running through the palace, their joyous laughter echoing off the golden halls._

* * *

"Sir," Selvig cuts in, looking fairly panicked though it barely broke through the strange mask he seemed to be wearing. "We don't have enough time."

Loki's expression falls ever so slightly and he moves back, turning his head towards Clint.

"Well?"

Fury's hand was rough when it collided with her back, pushing her out-of-the-way before the second bullet Clint had fired hits him, forcing him to his back. Winded, she supported herself up and watched as Loki passed her unmoving boss, Clint following, along with Selvig and another agent.

Clint picked up the briefcase that held the Tesseract, sparing no glance at the fallen Director. She forced herself up and made her way to Fury, teeth clenched from the pain the graze on her side brings.

"Get...comm." Fury commanded hoarsely and she grabbed the black object, placing it at her mouth.

"Hill!" She spits out, pressing her hand to the warm blood pooling from Fury's wound. "Hill!" She tries again. "Barton's turned!"

She can dimly hear the muffled gunshots from outside the lab, quickly hoping that Hill wasn't caught in the crossfire, before she turned her attention back to Fury.

"We've gotta get out of here." She moved to a crouch, hauling Fury's arm over her shoulder before she handed him the comm and helped him out of the room, away form the increasingly unstable energy buildup.

"They have the Tesseract! Shut them down!" Fury shouted into the comm as he stumbled past the door. Carrie ran with him when he pulled from her support, wincing inwardly when his questions hit her. "Why the hell did he know you?"

She doesn't answer, shoving him towards the stairs instead as they run towards the roof. The truth is, she had no idea how Loki knew her. She'd never been to Asgard, as SHIELD hadn't been aware of its existence until after Thor had come to earth the year before.

Her missing years, which spanned all the way up until she was twenty-three, were not available to her so, if she had ever met this man before, she couldn't remember it.

She dimly heard Coulson yelling through the comm that they needed to evacuate, neatly diving into the helicopter after Fury. She watched in moderate horror as the base began to collapse on itself, gripping the seat tightly when she caught sight of the car holding Loki, but not Hill.

The helicopter swung around towards the escaping car and she shoved the window open, aggression welling up inside her as she extended her gun and began firing towards the car. Fury copied her, his face blank even as he fired at his own agent, though she knew him well enough to know that Clint was all but expendable now.

Loki jumped up to the top of the car and thrusted his spear at them, the now familiar blue rush of energy flying at the helicopter, exploding on contact.

She grabbed onto Fury's collar as the helicopter began to spin out of control, and jumped out of it before it crashed onto the ground violently, the blade spinning wildly. She let out a ragged gasp, breathing harshly before she forced herself up, wincing when her muscles began to throb.

Gunshots echoed as Fury tried to shoot their fleeing quarry, something she quickly copied before it became evident that shooting blindly was useless.

Fury was already straightened up near her, his expression betraying nothing of the pain he must have been in, especially because she felt like she'd just gone toe to toe with Banner.

"Fury?" Coulson's voice sounded from the comm on their belts. "Director Fury, Agent Lunare, do you copy?!"

Fury tiredly raised it to his mouth, his eye locked onto the car in the distance.

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force." Fury stated. "I have Lunare with me and men down. Hill?"

"A lot of men still under." Her voice came from the device, ragged and bruised sounding. "I don't know how many survivors."

"Sound a general call." Fury commanded. "I want every living soul not working rescue, looking for that briefcase."

"Roger that." Hill responded.

"Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven." Carrie inhaled sharply, dread filling her, dread Coulson clearly shared if the deathly silence from his end said anything. "As of right now, we are at war."

She inhaled sharply before daring to ask the question they were all thinking. "What to we do?"

"You need to find Black Widow."

* * *

**Comments? Thoughts? Questions?**


	3. Recruitment

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters.**

* * *

Kerry paced listlessly as Coulson talked to Natasha on the phone, finally giving in to her frustration, she snatched the phone from his grip.

"Natasha." She gave the other woman little time to acclimate herself to the new voice. "Barton's been compromised."

It takes a single heartbeat for Natasha to respond, and her voice is flat when she does.

"Let me put you on hold."

Her voice left the phone, the sound of grunting and fighting replace it. Kerry silently counted how long it took for Natasha's voice to return to the phone. Shoving aside the teasing, she forced herself to respond to the other woman's unstated worry.

"Where's Barton now?" Natasha asks quietly, Kerry pulls the phone from her ear and places it on speaker.

"We don't know." She admits.

"But he's alive?" Kerry wishes she could agree with the absolute certainty that enters Natasha's usual monotone but can't bring herself to.

"We think so." Coulson takes over. "I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But, first, we need you to talk to the big guy."

"Coulson, you know Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me." Natasha reminds him, a teasing lilt to her voice.

"No, I've got Stark." A small smile teases her lips at Coulson's words and she leans closer to the phone. "You get the big guy."

There's another beat of silence before the other agent responds, annoyance clouding every syllable of the Russian curling off her tongue.

"Bozhe moi."

The call disconnected, Kerry handed it back to Coulson and they turned to go.

"So, Natasha has Banner, Fury has Rogers and you have Stark." Coulson nodded, pulling out his phone as they made their way to the helipad. She hung back as he climbed into the helicopter, her brow furrowing when he looks back expectantly.

"Well?" Coulson's brow raised and he offered a hand. "Come on."

She allows a small smirk before she takes the appendage and jumps in next to him, asking the question.

"Did you find out why he was calling me Kára?"

* * *

_"I'm so sorry, my dear girl." Frigg gently clutches the girl, almost woman, to her chest, soothes a hand through hair the color of raw-wheat. _

_They sit next to the coffin, filled with fresh flowers that surround the Valkyrie Sigrún, reunited with her lover at long last._

_"She died of a broken heart." Kara sniffs, raising a hand to wipe at the traitorous tears falling from her eyes. "As always."_

_Her mother has lived many lives, always being reincarnated along with her lover, the Aesir Helgi. An almost tragic tale: when one died, the other was not long off, and she feels surprise that her mother lasted this long._

_Then again, her mother had never had a child to care for. Though she knows she will see her mother again, and her father, the lack of comfort from either is a pain she never wants to feel again._

_"Mother!" Both woman turn to see the eldest Prince strutting towards them, his usual boyish grin gone from his somber face. "Kára," he sweeps her into a gruff hug, one she can't bring herself to return._

_"Hello, Thor." Frigg draws his attention, gently pulling him from the girl and her vigil. "Come, let us leave Kara alone for a bit."_

_She reaches forward, gently soothing a stray hair from her mother's pale, cold face and tries to reign in another bout of tears, aware that she is now a leader among her people, until her mother is reincarnated and comes of age._

_She falls deep in to her despair, retracts her hand and lets her face fall into her hands as more sobs begin to escape her chest._

_A shiver gently races down her spine and she straightens, revealing tear-stained cheeks before she looks around._

_"Loki," her voice is a whisper, barely there, and he hears it, stepping out from behind a pillar. She turns to face him, her expression lost and pained. _

_"Are you well?" He is dressed in his usual black leathers, a hint of green is all but swimming in the dark color. She is, for once, dressed similarly, the mourning clothes prepared for her mother's death swathing her slight form. "Mother says you haven't been to sleep or eaten."_

_"I have just lost my mother, how do you think I am?" She questions snappishly, taking her eyes of him and missing the wince, the sorrow that fills his eyes._

_"I am sorry," his whisper is next to her ear, his fingers gently touching her chin to turn her to face him. "That was thoughtless of me. Clearly, I've spent far too much time with my oaf of a brother."_

_The last words are said in jest, one that she desperately needs as the hint of a smile greets his words, her darkened eyes brightening if only for a moment._

_He presses forward, lightly gripping her chin and presses a soft kiss to her forehead. Another shiver races down her spine at the feel of his cool lips, and she doesn't protest when he pulls her into his embrace._

_"How long will she be gone?" He whispers, breaking the silence, and she leans her head against his chest._

_"Hard to say." She mumbles. "You forget, I have no personal experience with this matter." She raises her head from his chest to look up at him. "I am in the dark as much as you all are."_

_"Does the dark frighten you?" His whisper is breathy now, his lips less than a breath away and she finds herself leaning closer._

_"Should it?" Her question is innocent, though the desire she sees in his dark, emerald eyes is not. A faint smile curves his lips before he closes the remaining distance between them._

_"Never."_

* * *

She listened as Jarvis politely told them that Stark wasn't in, though she quickly reached for the panel in the elevator. After several quick keystrokes Pepper had shown her, Jarvis' protocol is overwritten.

"How did you do that?" Coulson questioned, looking mildly curious and she feels a stab of annoyance.

"You do realize I was originally brought in to be a hacker, right?"

"Was this before or after they saw you punch a hole in the wall?" Her lips pressed together tightly before she turned with a huff. Arms crossed, she leaned against the wall to wait for the elevator to reach the penthouse.

Coulson pulled out his phone, still trying to make it seem like they were trying to be polite about breaking into Stark's home.

"Stark, we need to talk." Stark's image appears on the screen, his dark brow drawn up in annoyance.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message."

"It's urgent." Coulson tries to no avail.

"Then leave it urgently."

The door binged lightly and she stepped out, sending Stark an amused look as Coulson followed her.

"Security breach." Stark announced, directing his next words to Pepper. "That's on you."

"Mr. Stark." Coulson greeted and Pepper smiled widely at them.

"Phil! Kerry, come in." She greets with a wide smile, picking up her glass of wine and standing.

"We can't stay." Kerry apologizes, smiling at the other woman.

"Phil and Kerry?" Stark echoes dubiously, getting up to follow Pepper. "Uh, their first names are 'Agent'." He points at them and Kerry raises a brow.

"Come on in," Pepper ignores her boyfriend. "We're celebrating."

"Which is why they can't stay." Stark injects and Kerry rolled her eyes, pinning him with a heated glare.

"And here I'd heard that the Great Tony Stark was such a gentleman." A shark-like grin appears on her face, his own turns wary. "Or is that just how you get the girls to drop their pants?"

"Lunare." Coulson hisses at her, though Pepper is smiling widely at them and winks at the other woman. He turned to Stark, holding out a folder. "We need you to look this over. As soon as possible."

"I don't like being handed things."

"I could throw it at you." She suggested archly, sending him a saccharine smile, forcing Pepper to intervene.

"That's alright, 'cause I love to be handed things." Pepper reached for the file, offering her champagne glass to Coulson. "So, let's trade." She handed the file to Stark, taking his glass in the process, who still looked like he'd swallowed something sour. "Thank you."

Stark inhaled sharply before looking up from the file towards Coulson and Kerry, annoyance coloring every syllable.

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five, every other Thursday." He snarked and Kerry rolls her eyes before crossing her arms.

"Does this look like a consultation?"

"Is this about the Avengers? Which I..." Pepper trailed off nervously, making Kerry smile and shake her head. "I know nothing about."

Stark turned around, tugging at the folder, with a deep sigh of annoyance. "The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought." He spun around, brow furrowed. "And I thought I didn't even qualify?"

"I didn't know that either." Pepper assured, pretending to look innocent.

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others," Stark listed off in a mock-disbelieving voice that made Kerry and Pepper hold back smiles.

"That I did know." Pepper announced flatly.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore." Coulson stated, looking at Kerry, who sighed deeply.

"Whatever." Stark dismissed from the desk, looking over the data in the file. "Miss Potts, got a minute?"

Pepper pranced away, quickly assuring them she'd be back in a minute and headed towards her boyfriend.

"Think this will work?" She murmured to the other agent, who sighed deeply and shrugged. The shaken, almost haggard look he'd worn when she'd seen him right after the base collapse suddenly returned.

"We can only hope."

They both watched, slightly uncomfortable as Pepper and Stark whispered to each other, Kerry looking towards the window when the two began to kiss. The images from the file were splattered all over the glass surface and she stared hard at the one collected from the salvaged footage of Loki.

Even through film, his dark, emerald eyes seared through her and she clamped down the shiver that threatened to make her shake. Her attention was drawn back to the others when Pepper came back to them, smile still in place.

"Any chance you're driving over past the airport?" She questioned, they turned towards the elevator as Coulson nodded.

"We can drop you off."

* * *

"Okay, thank you." She muttered into the comm, nodding along even though they couldn't see. "Yeah, just...let me know what the blood work says." She pauses and the scientists' gently voice brings her back from her mind. "Oh, umm...yeah. I'm fine. Did you have enough of the other sample to compare?"

She ends the call quickly, crossing her arms to hide the tremble in her hands and stalked towards the bridge of the jet, pausing at the door in time to hear Coulson stuttering his respect to Rogers.

"...You know, it's-it's really just a huge honor, to have you on board." She hears Coulson say, a smirk sliding on her face before she forces it off and waltzes to them.

"Oh, don't go all fanboy on him now, Coulson." She lightly mocked, faintly smiling when she sees the slight pink that tinged her boss' cheeks.

Rogers turned to her, his brow furrowed and she allows a small, real smile and offers her hand.

"I'm Agent Lunare," he takes her hand. "You can call me Tempest."

Rogers looked back at Coulson, who was now rolling his eyes.

"Tempest?" He turned back to her and her smile slowly changes to a smirk. "That's an...interesting codename?"

"It was storming when we found her." Coulson offered vaguely, leaving the two others to give him a weird look before Rogers turned back to her, an eyebrow raised.

"Don't look at me." She muttered darkly. "I don't remember anything other than waking up at a SHIELD base."

"You don't remember _anything_?" The knowledge made him look oddly saddened, something she brushed aside.

"No memories before the age of twenty-three, when Coulson and Fury found me."

Rogers nods before releasing her hand, a smile replacing the confused, sad expression that he'd worn previously.

"Well, it's nice to meet you regardless."

"And, I have to agree with Coulson, all teasing aside." She admits and the smile on Rogers' face grows. "It is an honor to work with you."

"I just hope I'm the right man for the job." His expression is serious once again and he lets her hand go, turning and resting his arm above his head.

"Oh, you are." Coulson jumped in, still resembling an overeager puppy. "Absolutely. Uh...we've made some, modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."

"The uniform?" Steve repeats, looking taken aback. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little...old-fashioned?"

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned."

She turned to go, sensing that Steve needed time to think about what he'd been told, and knew her presence would only hinder that. They'd have time to know each other better later, and she had her own problems to deal with right now.

Like the blood sample from the lab and the hope that the results wouldn't be as disturbing as she feared.

* * *

**Thoughts? Comments? Questions?**


	4. Results

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters.**

* * *

As soon as the Quinjet lands and the ramp is lowered, she stalks out of it, passing an apporaching Natasha and barely gives the other agent a nod before heading down below the deck.

"Agent Lunare." She stops and turns around, sagging gratefully when Hill approaches her, looking no worse for wear considering she'd almost been crushed.

"Agent Hill." She greets, smiling faintly before the situation rears its ugly head, sobering her cheerful expression. "Is there something you needed?"

Hill nods once. "Yes. Fury wants you to head down to the Biolab, he said he'd meet you there."

Kerry sighs inwardly, thanks her other agent and turns to go, her back stiffening when Hill's voice carries to her.

"Good luck." The other agent says, her face an off mix of pity and sadness, which causes the knot in Kerry's stomach to tighten. Clearly, whatever the scientists found, it wasn't good.

The entire Helicarrier looked like chaos, people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, though she pushes that amusing thought aside when she reached the lab, hanging back when she catches sight of Fury and a scientist hunched over a table.

"Are you sure?" Fury questioned and she felt her heart sink at the sight on the scientist's face. Shoving her emotions aside, she cleared her throat, hands clasped behind her back.

"Director Fury," she began, swallowing past the lump in her throat. "I was told you wanted to-to see me?"

He examined her for a long moment, his one eye piercing and, almost worried. She blinked at the emotion, though it was gone as soon as it was there, and he nodded.

"We ran the blood test, like you suggested." He shared a short look with the scientist before he walked towards her, his face unreadable once again. "I'll leave you to it, come to the bridge when you're finished here." He paused, gently touching a gloved hand to her shoulder, then continued from the lab, the door sliding shut.

"If you would, Agent Lunare." The scientist began gently, her lined brow drawn up in worry that she can't conceal, and Kerry felt as if her heart would stop. "You may want to sit down for this."

Gritting her teeth together, she followed the older woman towards the wall, currently filled with data and watched as it was cleared. Her SHIELD I.D. pictures comes up, along with all the information known about her, including the irregularities in her DNA that she had already been aware of.

"Now, if you notice, your DNA is...largely different from normal human DNA."

"I thought it was because of my...abilities." She ventures, lightly placing a hand on the keypad and clicking a button, revealing a video of her first training session. Watching silently, they see her knock out her sparring partner with a single punch, and then see no damage to her hand from the force. "That's what we always assumed." _What I was told_.

The unspoken statement lingered between them, though the other woman doesn't seem too concerned and she reached out, clicking the keyboard.

A picture of Thor comes up, one of him laying in a hospital bed and Kerry's brow furrows.

"What does Thor have to do with this?"

"Shortly after Thor was admitted to the hospital, they did blood work. SHIELD was able to...aquire a few samples of his blood."

She isn't surprised. SHIELD generally does most things that others would consider...unethical. Taking blood samples of a possible hostile from a hospital is a cakewalk compared to other things SHIELD has done.

She stiffened when another file pops up, this time one that shows two strands of DNA on it, both clearly labeled. She read them, her fists clenching unconsciously as the other woman began to speak.

"We compared your DNA with Thor's, you were aware of this, correct?" The aged scientist glanced over her glasses at the younger agent, noting the tense posture she carried.

"I knew my DNA was being compared to someone else's at my behest but...I didn't realize-" She stopped and covered her mouth, looking away as she tried to stop herself from having a panic attack. "I thought I was a mutant."

She looked over to see the scientist looking at her, understanding misting over her aged features before she clicked the screen and the results come up. Kerry can barely hear, the blood in her ears is pounding loudly and she grips the table to stop from falling.

"Despite what you've been told, your DNA does not match ours." The scientist began softly, gently laying a hand on the stiff shoulder. "You are not human, my dear. Your DNA matches that of Thor too much. About 20% or so of it is different, which we cannot account for."

Her grip on the table tightened, forcing her to release it before she ended up snapping the metal. Without a word, she abruptly spun on her heel and stalked towards the door, tension lining every inch of her body.

It is only at the door that she paused, remembering herself and looked back to the face of the older woman, who is staring calmly at her.

"I can't thank you for telling me this, but you have helped me."

* * *

_"You have the gift, my child." Sigrún smiles warmly at her daughter, who in turn stares up at her curiously. _

_"What do you mean, mother?"_

_"I mean, you are capable of magic." With a slight wave of her hand, the flower in Sigrún's grasp vanishes, reappearing in her daughter's hands._

_ Kárasmiles widely, giggling with delight and looks to her mother with wide, hopeful eyes._

_"Teach me!"_

_Her mother teaches her all she knows, or tries to. The last hundred years of her mother's life show Kára a weakened, heartbroken woman who only longs to return to this life with her husband._

_Lady Eir takes over her magic studies, though Eir is primarily a healer, she has Valkyrie blood. It is during one of these lessons that Kara first finds out she is not the only child capable of magic in the palace._

_"That was wonderful, my girl." Eir encourages warmly, a smile on her mouth as Kara spins around, making a small whirlwind. "You were named correctly, it seems."_

_ Kárasmiles widely, almost sheepishly, yet secretly pleased. Her name means 'the wild, stormy one' and she is happy to live up to the name her father bestowed upon her before he died._

_"Thank you, Lady Eir."_

_"Brother!" The two spin around to see Thor as he rushes through the courtyard, his tan skin flushed from exertion. "My ladies!" He skids to a stop, smiling widely at Kara before he looks around again. "Have you seen my brother?"_

_"No, we have not, my Prince." Lady Eir smiles fondly at the little prince before she looks at her student. "I believe we have enough time for one more lesson."_

_"What is it?" Kára tilts her head curiously, excitement builds inside her at the thought of more lessons._

_Eir smiles mischievously and looks around, leans down to her student with a conspiratorial grin._

_"Find Prince Loki." She straighten and her smile widens at the sight of her student's confusion. "He's around here somewhere. Feel."_

_With that, Lady Eir drifts off towards the nearest bench, watching the two children with a secret smile._

_"Why does Lady Eir believe I can find Prince Loki?" Kára questions Thor, who smiles widely at her._

_"Because my brother hides with his magic of course!" He grins, his face falling when he sees the pain flash across Kára's face as her eyes become misty. She blinks in shock before she shakes her head once and pins Thor with a hard stare._

_"Are you telling me that Loki has listened to my stories about magic and never offered to practice with me?" Her bottom lips trembles for a moment, long enough for Thor, Eir and the hidden Loki to see it, before she steels her spine. _

_Her face becomes a blank mask and she shuts her eyes, reaching and searching with her magic. After several long minutes, the finally spins and throws out her hand, a small tempest appears and flies towards the far corner._

_All three watch as Loki's invisibility is canceled and he is pushed from his hiding spot behind a pillar, landing on his behind as the small wind disappears. He looks up, emerald eyes flashing when he sees the expression on his friend's face and he reaches for her._

_"Kára-"_

_Without a word, she turns quietly, the silence more damning that if she'd screamed, and walks away with all the grace of the goddess she is._

_"Lady Kára!" Thor tries to follow, only to pause when Eir lays a gentle hand on his shoulder, her attention on the younger Prince. _

_"My Prince, perhaps you have better things to do than sit on the floor and gape like a fish?" She questions mildly, an almost smug smirk flirts with her lips when his emerald eyes snap from her to the retreating girl._

_He is off without another word, leaving a smug healer and a confused Prince in his wake._

* * *

"Kerry." She stopped, turning around to meet Natasha's silent gaze and she nods in return, falling beside the other agent.

"Natasha." She returned the greeting, the lab results still screaming away in her head and she is grateful for her friend's current taciturn demeanor. "I hope the big guy didn't give you too much trouble."

"Like a pussy cat." Natasha agreed smoothly, a smirk hinting at her lips. "A volatile, sometimes green, pussy cat with anger management issues."

They share a quiet chuckle before they reached the doors, Natasha quietly slipping in front of her and holding up her hand.

"Fury told me. Well," she amended under the other woman's fierce stare. "I was listening around the corner. It's not my fault they have poor insulation in this place."

Kerry shakes her head in irritation, though she isn't surprised that Natasha would eavesdrop. And they'd been on plenty of missions together, Natasha knew about the nightmares that had plagued her friend nightly.

"Hey, don't give me that look." Natasha defended, her voice softening. "I just...wanted to tell you that, no matter what, we're still..."

"Friends?" Kerry supplied dryly and Natasha rolled her eyes, the relaxing of her shoulders the only indication that she'd been uncomfortable. "I know, Nat. Don't worry."

They continued through the doors, immediately heading towards the science console where Coulson is already at. Natasha began eyeing the picture of Clint while Kerry turned to face the others. Eyeing Banner silently, she swallows when Fury turned his good eye on her, appraising her silently.

With a short, firm shake of her head, he turned back to his conversation and she joined Natasha by the screen, watching as her friend eyes the picture of Clint.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet." She looks over to see Coulson speaking to Banner. "Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"Somehow, I don't think people from Asgard have much use for cellphones and computers." She mumbled softly, earning a faint smirk from Natasha and a withering look from Coulson.

"She's right. That's still not gonna find them in time."

"You have to narrow the field." Banner points to the screen, addressing Fury. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury asked, crossing his arms.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition." She halfway tunes out the doctor, still staring at Clint's photo, though she can understand everything being said.

"Agent Romanoff, would you show DR. Banner to his laboratory, please." Fury phrases the command as a question, one that Natasha doesn't ignore.

With a nod, the woman stands and heads for the door, Banner following obediently.

"You're gonna love it Doc, we got all the toys." Natasha teased with a smile, looking back at the man.

Kerry watches them go before she looks at Fury, not surprised to see him staring at her. With an inward sigh, she gives him another nod and he smirks faintly.

"Agent Lunare, can I have a word?"

* * *

**Thoughts? Comments? Questions?**


	5. Confrontation

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters._**

**_Thank you to the people who have reviewed, faved, followed and read this story._**

* * *

_She storms into the chambers, paying no mind to the shock that flashes over the faces of the inhabitants._

_"I want to go home!" She nearly sobs, tears finally making their way down her pale face and her mother rises shakily from the chair, gently drawing her daughter close._

_"But, I was under the impression that you have enjoyed you time here at the palace?" Sigrún seems at a loss and turns to the King and Queen. The latter rises silently, her eyes soft with concern as she kneels next to the girl._

_"Dear Kara, why would you wish to leave? My sons tell me you have been so happy here-"_

_"Well _he is_ the problem!" The three adults share a look at her emphasis but say nothing, Frigg merely taking the chance to persuade her young charge to stay as her mother is nearing the end of her days._

_"But, darling girl, your mother wishes for you to stay here, even after she passes." She blinks past her tears to look into Frigg's comforting face before she shakes her head vehemently._

_"I miss home! I miss Hroki and Esja and the rest of our clan!"_

_"Kára," Odin begins carefully, looking slightly out-of-place. "What brought all of this on? My wife and your Lady mother were correct when they said you have been happy here, at the palace up until this point." He heaves himself to his feet and stalks towards her, staff in hand._

_"Nothing happened." She speaks so quickly, the three adults share a knowing look at her quick dismissal._

_"Did my sons do anything?" Frigg asks and the tightness in her charges small body gives them all the answer they need. _

_"Was it Thor?" Odin asks, seeing his eldest as the most logical as, even though she likes both princes, Kara has always gotten on wonderfully with Loki. "My child, if he has given offense-"_

_"It wasn't Thor!" She snaps over him, quickly covers her mouth as her eyes widen. "I-I'm sorry, my King..." She blinks when a faint smile tugs at the Allfather's lips._

_"No harm was done, my girl. You are as much a child to Frigg as our sons, and to me as well." He kneels in front of her, rests heavily on his staff and she stares at him with wide, teary eyes._

_"My girl" her mother gently soothes over tear-stained cheeks. "If you truly wish to return, I will send for Hildr at once. But," she kneels down next to her daughter, brushes away the helpful hands of Frigg. "You must know, if you leave, I cannot accompany you."_

_"What?" Kára's whisper is soft and heartbroken as her mother smiles sadly at her, gently pets over her unruly hair._

_"I am too weak, my darling. I cannot make the trip." Her mother sighs deeply, her thin body shakes with the effort. "I will die within the next two centuries."_

_Before Kára can react to the news, her eyes wide with horror, the door behind them slams open a second time, revealing the younger prince. Pants fill the air and the adults watch as she stiffens and turns from her friend, his thin body tensing at her quiet dismissal._

_"Kára..."_

* * *

"Agent Lunare..." Fury cut off, looking at her warily as she crossed her arms tightly and glared at him silently. "I know you're upset but-"

"Upset?" She laughed harshly, rolling her eyes. "I'm more than upset. I'm livid. The deal was: I joined SHIELD and you guys find out where the hell I'm from. I was told you did that; that I was mutant of some kind."

"It wasn't my decision-"

She let out a laugh of derision, anger finally seeping through her words. "Oh, please. Everyone knows that you don't give a rat's ass what the council thinks. If that were true, you never would have had Natasha and I hack into the system to save the files for the 'Avenger Initiative'."

Fury had the decency to look sheepish, or what she assumed was his version of sheepish, at her words before he cleared his throat.

"Despite the deception involved in getting you to join SHIELD-"

"You're telling me I actually had a choice?" She asked snappishly, her eyes flashing. "You and I both know you would have been forced to keep me under lock and key if I'd refused."

He didn't deign to answer that jab, though the expression in his good eye told her she'd hit the mark. Silently, her anger controlled for the moment, she took a step back and relinquished her hold on the table.

She winced at the slight screech of the metal when she uncurled her hands. She hadn't even realized in her anger, she'd grabbed onto the desk and it was her turn to eye Fury sheepishly.

"Are you done?" He asked quietly.

She nodded once. "I apologize for my insubordination-"

"We both know you don't know the meaning of that word." He waved a hand flippantly, smirking faintly at the grin that expanded over her face. "Now-"

"Director Fury! Agent Lunare!" Hill's voice came.

They both started, sharing a look before they grabbed their comms and headed toward the doors.

"We're here, Hill. Report."

"We've found Loki."

Fury's brisk walk increased and, with a roll of her eyes, Kerry is forced to nearly run to keep up with the Director.

They entered the bridge in time to see chaos has erupted once again and, with Fury shouting orders, she quickly found a brooding Natasha. The red-head looked like she was about to spit nails, judging by how tense her form was.

"What have I missed?" She muttered softly and Natasha shifted slightly, her eyes flashing.

"Well, Phil just got cock-blocked while going all fanboy on Rogers." Their attention flashed to the screen as Agent Sitwell answered Coulson's previous question. "And we have a hit."

Kerry felt her body stiffen, her lower stomach curling in heated anticipation. She shoved the reaction down violently, pushing away the dreams his face triggered.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse." Sitwell turned to them, his brow furrowed. "He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain," Fury commanded their attention and Kerry fixed her eyes on Rogers' face, watching his expression. "You're up."

She watched silently as Rogers' nodded and left, clearly with the intent to suit up. She shared another look with Natasha, who began counting down softly.

"One...two...three..."

"Lunare, Romanof." With a small smirk, the two turned towards Fury expectantly, their expression schooled blankly.

"The Captain's gonna need you on this one."

With a nod, they both turned around and strutted to the exit, smirking softly at each other.

"It's my turn." Natasha snipped warningly, making Kerry roll her eyes dramatically.

"Fine. But next time," she warned as they reached the jet. "It's all mine" Natasha turned to face her, arms resting on the sides of the ramps door.

"If you say so."

After Captain had suited up and joined them, Kerry steadfastly ignoring the suggestive arched brow Natasha sent her, they quickly headed towards the coordinates Sitwell had given them.

"We're two minutes out." Natasha warned as she twisted the controls. KErry hefted on a parachute, offering one to Rogers'. "Here."

"Don't need one."

With that, as Natasha opened the doors, Rogers proceeded to jump out of the jet and into the air.

"Well," the other woman drawled, smirking lightly as she righted the jet. "That's one way to do it."

With a soft snort, Kerry dove forward into the night. She drew her arms close, diving faster towards Rogers', who just then seemed concerned about the drop.

"Still don't want that parachute?" She shouted over the wind and he looked back at her, shaking his head frantically. Wordlessly, she waved her hand and they seemed to slow, giving her enough time to slip the parachute over his shoulders.

She pulled away and waved her hand, wincing at how fast the ground was approaching. Without a thought, both yanked on the chutes and she sighed gratefully when they finally landed.

"So, what was that about not needing a parachute?"

Rogers winced at her dry words before her sent her a sheepish grin. A yell caught their attention and she watched, slightly mesmerized as Loki addressed a kneeling crowd. Her eyes widened when an elderly man stood.

"I overestimated the distance between us and the ground." He ran forward, pulled his shield out and leapt in front of the man Loki had tried to turn into a smoldering pile of ash.

She almost began to clap when she saw Loki fall to the ground, then winced. Another round of dreams was pressed at her brain and she pushed them away. She rushed froward, reaching for her gun, though she knew it would do no good.

"Ya know," Rogers straightened. "The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."

She smirked at his reference to Hitler, schooling her features against the heat that washed over her when she saw Loki standing proud.

"The soldier. A man out of time." He observed softly, his words like a smooth caress even when not directed at her. "And," shadowed emerald eyes locked onto her. "The lovely, little Agent."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Rogers snapped and she joined him, not moving as the sound of the Quinjet came from behind. Even without looking, she heard the clank of the weapons as Natasha turned them on.

"Loki," Natasha's amplified voice was even toneless. "Drop the weapon and stand down-"

Without warning, Loki suddenly thrust his spear out, blue energy shooting from it. She watched in horror as it headed for the Quinjet. With barely enough time, it maneuvered out of the way, the blast almost skimmed it.

With an angry grunt, the man next to her chucked his shield at Loki as the crowd began to disperse. Following his weapon, she watched as Rogers threw himself at Loki, her eyes narrowed when Loki finally knocked the other man away.

"Now then." Her gun raised at the sound of his voice. Every step he took, she matched until they were standing face to face. "Perhaps we have time to talk."

"Not likely." She ducked down, swinging her leg out and catching the back of his knees. With a grunt, he fell and she flipped away, blue energy following her. "That wasn't nice."

She hissed from her spot near the fountain, her gun aimed at him once again. He smirked as he pulled himself up, the expression causing shivers to wrack down her spine.

"When have I ever been nice?"

"Oh, you mean the few days I've known you? Not too much, considering you enthralled someone close to me."

His eyes darkened at the mention of Clint, the arrival of Rogers' shield stopping any comment Loki might have made.

Rogers fought like a boxer, she mused quietly. Thankfully, the close quarters made it nearly impossible for Loki to get an energy blast in, so the still fleeing citizens were safe.

"Kneel!" Loki grunted, spear pointed at Rogers' bared neck, wild fear gripped her. She wasn't going to let another person be put under the crazy God's control.

"Not today!" Smoothly, he knocked the spear away and flipped up, spun around and kicked the other man away.

With a grunt, Kerry jumped forward, rolling over Rogers' exposed back and landed her own kick. Loki grunted, gripped the foot that rested in his chest, tightened it and flung her towards the ground.

She felt the breath leave her lungs violently and wheezed. Loki stalked above her, pointing the spear at her chest and her eyes widened.

Sorrow and pain filled the depths of his eyes and he kneeled next to her. "I am sorry, my love." He brushed a hand through her hair before he stood. "Forgive me."

The staff glowed, the blue blocking her vision but not her ears. A soft, disbelieving laugh left her lungs as the sound of rock music filled the air.

"'Bough time, you bastard." She hissed into her ear piece. Loki looked up in time for Stark's blast to fling him from her, sending him landing roughly on the ground.

Rogers rushed to her, tenderly pulling her to her feet. She dusted herself off and stalked to the other man, a brow arched when he lifted his arms, every weapon readying itself.

"Make your move, Reindeer games." He offered sarcastically to the crouching Loki. Emerald eyes flashed between the three in front of him before he raised his hands.

She watched, unblinkingly, as his armor melted away in a soft golden glow. She swallowed thickly, only moving when Natasha sharply reminded her.

"Lunare, you're the only one with cuffs."

"I know." She snapped back, reaching into her side pocket to find said cuffs. With a sharp inhale, she stalked towards the seemingly subdued Loki and leaned closer.

"How fitting _you _are the one to be restraining _me_." His eyes became half-lidded, suggestive heat curling off every word he said. She snapped the cuffs on him with more force than necessary before she stood up, her need to get away from the heat overpowering.

With no word, she stalked past the two men, her face keeping even Stark from asking a smartass question.

"Stark, get him into the jet."

* * *

**Comments? Questions? Thoughts?**


	6. Flashes of the Past

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters.**

**I changed the earlier spelling of Carrie to Kerry. Hope no one is too confused by that.**

* * *

_"Kára!" _

_She pulls away from Hroki, laughter still tumbles from her lips as she looks towards Hildr. The other Valkyrie's face is grave, dread settles in her stomach before she stands._

_"What is it, Hildr?" She asks and quietly prays her fears are unfounded. The grave expression tells her they are not._

_"It is your mother." Hildr swallows with difficulty, her face pale and soft. No more words are needed as realization flashes across her niece's face. "She has asked for you."_

_Without a word, she sprints towards her horse, desperation hastens her movements. Her aunt is beside her for the journey back to their city. They dismount quickly, though Kára makes no move to run and pack. She pays no mind to her aunt's presence as they sprint towards the Bifrost._

_Heimdall readily allows them entrance to Asgard and she all but ignores the stoic guardian in her haste to get to the palace. Horses await them and they waste no time. Thankfully, the ride to the palace is short and Odin is waiting for them._

_"How does my sister fare, Allfather? Has Eir said anything...?" Odin doesn't answer, his face grim and stoic as ever. He ushers them quickly through the winding, golden halls._

_She slams against the tall doors, her breath escapes her lungs violently. A hand raises to her mouth, smothers the soft cry of horror at the sight of her mother._

_"Lady Kára...Sister," her attention snaps to the two princes in the corner. Her eyes soften, sorrow grips her heart as she takes in Thor's face. Muscled and bulky as ever, he has grown even larger since she has seen him last._

_His blue eyes are the same, boyish and warm as they meet her own. She glances at his brother, takes in the differences silently. _

_The slight, boyish curves are replaced by hard angles that make up his face and body. She keeps her eyes averted from his own, unwilling to allow dark emerald to meet burnt sienna._

_She looks away, glances down at herself once. Clad in mail and leather, her hair braided back on the sides. She is dressed for training, not visiting her sickly mother._

_She looks up and rushes towards the bed, towards Eir and Frigg as they flank her mother._

_She takes all but three steps before strong, thick arms hook around her waist, draw her from her mother. She twists and bucks violently as Thor struggles to hold her, her magic lending to her strength._

_"Kára! You must stop, my sister!" _

_Thor sends Loki a pleading glance and soon, lean arms join Thor's, finally able to hold her in place._

_"Lady Eir is healing your mother, Kára. You must not disrupt her." Loki's voice whispers against her ear and she fights to hold in a shiver._

_Gone is the voice of their childhood. Dark and raw, every word slides over her like a caress and she once again forces herself not to tremble._

_Thor's arm slips away and soon, both of Loki's arms encircle her waist. He tugs her closer and she swallows when the fabric of his tunic hits her back, his heat following suit. _

_She twists once more, her magic lending to her strength, and, mercifully, he releases her with no fight. She flits forward to the bed and collapse next to Frigg._

_Soft hands gently cradle her own and she looks up to see Frigg's kind face, though sadness riddles her beautiful features._

_"I am sorry, my dear." Kára slips a hand from Frigg's and reaches out, gently soothes her mother's pale, heated brow. _

_"When did this happen?" Hildr joins them and seats herself next to Eir, who collapses in her seat with a deep sigh._

_"Just this morning." Eir breathes out. "We sent word as soon as we could."_

_The healer's expression shows her exhaustion and Odin summons a maid. The healer leaves the room, needing the support of two maids to make the journey._

_"I do not wish for Lady Eir to tax herself." Kára mumbles numbly. "Nothing can be done-"_

_"What do you mean?" Thor thunders. The level of his voices causes most to jump in shock and Kára turns silently to eye her friend. "Lady Eir is the greatest healer in the land, of course she can-"_

_"My mother will die no matter what. Nothing, and no one, can save her." She hisses, her eyes flashing with heat._

_"Thor, perhaps you shouldn't argue with her." Loki steps forward, his hands clasped in front of him. "She would know best."_

_Thor deflates at his brother's words. Well, as much as he is capable of._

_"Thor, Loki." Odin commands the attention of the room, his good eye focused on the girl as she hunches over her mother. "Perhaps we should leave the ladies to their vigil."_

_"We'll leave as well." Frigg announces, rising gracefully from her seat. Her hand slips from Kára's and she grips the tips of Frigg's fingers tightly. "Don't fret, my dear." Frigg soothes stray hairs from her forehead. "We won't be long."_

_With that, Kára is left alone with her mother. Hildr promises to be back soon and all at once, she is alone._

_She inhales softly before she turns back to her mother, gently takes her hand and presses it to her forehead._

_"I'm sorry, mother." She whispers out, tears leak from behind her shut eyes. "So very sorry I wasn't here."_

_Leaving the palace and returning home hadn't been an easy choice but, she had made it after Loki's so called 'betrayal'. Now, she knows she had acted foolishly, hurt that the boy she'd fancied herself in love with had tricked her._

_A shiver goes down her spine and she spins around, glares silently at the far corner. Her lips curl into snarl that would make __Týr proud._

_"I know you're there, Loki."_

* * *

Why did she have to guard him? Kerry crossed her arms as she started at Loki. Unwilling to look uncomfortable, as she was positive that was Stark's goal, she kept her face blank.

As soon as Loki had been brought on the Quinjet, Stark had immediately volunteered her for guard duty. Her revenge against Natasha and Rogers would be swift and thorough.

A chuckle brought her out of her thoughts and her head snapped up, sienna meeting emerald. As always, she pushed down the reactions Loki's gaze alone seemed to elicit from her body.

She eyed him, her gaze narrowed when he boldly eyed her back.

"All quiet still?" Natasha's voice came over her earpiece. She reached up and pressed it, a wince escaped when another particularly loud boom of thunder echoed.

"Quiet as a tomb." She mumbled back, though Loki appeared to hear it. She arched a brow at him and a smirk lazily unfurled on his mouth.

_She could feel the smirk on her skin as he peppered kisses along her shoulders, then down to her collar-bone, lower still..._

She inhaled sharply, snapped her eyes to meet his. Sultry heat and sorrow clouded his eyes, the former leaving her breathless.

Lightning flashed with a particularly loud boom. The jet rocked violently and she reached out, grabbed onto the nearest grip.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha asked, looking around from her seat and her hands shook as she tried to control the flight.

Loki's eyes lifted to the window as another boom sounded above. Kerry followed, her eyes narrowed, as Rogers and Stark took notice.

"What's the matter?" Rogers asked, eyes fixed on Loki. "Scared of a little thunder?"

A small smile flitted across Loki's pale face. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Before anyone could speak, a blinding light smacked into the jet. The sound of a body hitting metal sounded and her head snapped towards the ramp.

Giving her no time to do anything, Stark pressed the button on the ramp. When it lowered, it revealed a blond man she had only seen in pictures.

Stark started towards Thor, only to fly backwards into a surprised Rogers when a hammer connected with his metal chest. She winced and ducked, spinning slightly to dodge the flying men. Crouched low, she could od little more than watch in shock as Thor reached down, gripped Loki's throat and flew them out of the jet.

"And," Stark groaned as he stood. "Now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha called from her seat. Kerry nodded once, her eyes wide as Rogers pulled himself up.

"Think that guy's friendly?"

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

Stark reached for her and she let out a cry of protest as he slung her over his metal shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing?!" She snapped as he turned and tense, clearly about to jump out and chase Thor.

"I have a feeling I'll need a magic-infused, Kárate assassin."

Her lips twisted in annoyance at his words. His knowledge of her abilities was annoying on a usual day and she hated that he continued to call it 'magic'.

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" Rogers tried in vain as Kerry twisted uselessly in her 'captor's' grip.

"I have a plan." Tony stalked to the open ramp. He turned slightly towards the annoyed looking soldier. "Attack."

With that, he jumped out of the jet, leaving Kerry with little to do but hold on for dear life.

"I'm going to kill you for this, Stark!" She threatened flatly over the noise of the thunder and wind. His answering chuckle made her blood boil and she withheld the urge to inflict serious damage.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Stormy." He released her, which forced her to shift and curl herself around his back. "I just need your help to subdue these guys."

She stiffened as the mountains grew closer, the darkness making it impossible to distinguish where they were.

"Can you see them?" She yelled, wincing as her hair whipped around. Stark grunted something, suddenly turned directions and headed straight for the two Asgardians.

"Okay, on the count of three, jump off."

"What?!" She shrieked back, her grip tightened as they neared the two men. "You're insane." She hissed out, her muscles tensing as she prepared to spring from his back.

"Oh completely."

With that, he sped up and as he collided with Thor, she jumped off his back. She dimly heard Loki speak before she collided with him, forcing them both to the ground.

Panting softly, she kneeled on top of him, her legs on either side of his thighs. He stared up at her, surprise melted away to that same heat that entered his eyes when he looked to her.

"Well, now." He smirked and propped himself up on an elbow. Which brought his face too close for comfort, as her belly began to flip and curl pleasantly. "Isn't this a surprise."

His hand lifted and she flinched when it neared her, causing his hand to freeze. Chest heaving, she stared down at him as more of her dreams flashed before her eyes.

_Emerald eyes glimmered as she sat astride him, foreheads pressed together tightly. His hands were light and teasing as he ran gentle touches along her sensitive skin._

With a cry of pain, she pushed herself away from him, springing into a crouch as he pushed himself up. A guarded, wounded look entered his eyes as she stared at him in shock.

"Who are you?" She managed the whisper and winced at how weak it was. Her dreams had never been so clear, had never allowed her to see more than the color of the man's eyes.

Eyes that matched Loki's perfectly.

"I think, my dear." Loki stood slowly, cautiously, as if she was a wild animal tense and ready to flee. "That is the question you should be asking yourself."

"Why are you calling me Kára?" She asked bluntly, eyebrow arched in question. A fond smile curved his pale lips and he sighed deeply.

"Why would I call you anyone but who you are?" He shot back silkily, the smile transformed into a smirk.

"I'm Agent Kerry Lunare of SHIELD." She hissed back flatly, her arms crossed tightly and he scoffed lightly, humor dancing in the light of his eyes.

"Is that what they told you? That you are some, pathetic little mortal woman from Midgard?" He stood and stalked towards her, his eyes lazily roving along her body.

Horrified, she felt a flush spread and tried to tamp down her reaction. He stepped closer and lowered his head, staring down at her with darkened emerald eyes.

"I, however, know better than them." He pressed closer, his lips lightly brushed against the whorl of her ear with every word. "You were Kára, the Valkyrie."

"Is that all?" She asked, cursing at how breathless she sounded.

"Not quite." He smiled once, as if he was privy to some secret joke, before he pulled away to pin her with his heated stare. He raised hand, his cool fingertips gently brushing her skin in the barest of caresses. "You were also my bride."

She was saved from responding when Thor and Stark landed on the mountain. The blond god immediately went to his brother and picked him up like a rag doll. Stark offered a hand, his dark eyes shielded as she looked away and refused.

She pushed herself up, dusting off the black of her pants and looked up, only to be speared by wide blue eyes.

"Lady Kára?!"

She held in a groan at the name, one she had heard nightly for as long as she could remember. Now one that she heard almost daily since Loki's arrival.

Stark looked between the stunned God towards the cross looking agent. Confusion lined his face and he finally settled his gaze on Kerry.

"Wanna tell me what's goin' on, Lunare?"

* * *

**Thoughts? Comments? Questions?**


	7. Meetings

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot and any unrecognizable characters and dialogue.**

* * *

She's somehow not surprised when she sees that Rogers somehow managed to convince the blond ox next to Stark to join their little team. She's also not surprised when Thor nearly tackled her, his trunk-like arms wrapping around her too tight. Loose enough to still be considered a hug.

"Sister!" She blinked owlishly at the man when he crowed out the term, sharing a bemused look with the two other men.

"Okay, look blondie-" He cuts her off by swinging her around, laugh booming like thunder.

"How I have missed you!" Like a switch, his joy is cut off and he turned to to his brother, eyes narrowed. "What did you do to return her?"

"I have done nothing." Loki countered smoothly, his eyes locked onto her. The heat in them sent another shiver down her spine, one that Thor felt.

Looking between his brother and the woman he currently held captive in his arms, understanding flooded his face.

"She does not remember us." Loki's face tightned at his brother's words. She resisted the feelings welling inside her at his expression.

"No."

* * *

"I don't like this."

Kerry stalked past Rogers, widely ignoring the soldier's words. The ride back to the helicarrier had been filled with tension and she needed to vent or she'd explode.

Natasha fell in step with her smoothly, her lips twisted up in an amused smirk.

"Rogers spilled the beans." The other assassin's smirk widened under her withering glare. "About Loki's...enamoured behavior towards you."

"'Enamoured'." She scoffed lightly. "You makes it sound as if he's a lovesick puppy."

She looked away from her frined's knowing gaze. "Rogers said he saw Loki...touching you."

Kerry hissed through her teeth, bristling like a cat when soft chuckles escaped the other agent.

"He claimed I was..." she hesitated and Nat clearly caught on, her eyes narrowing further. before Kerry can defend, Nat spins her around and has her pinned to the wall.

"What?"

"His wife."

Stunned silence is her answer. Natasha's grip fell slack and she pulled away. Any comment about ot fall from her lips is cut off when their comms beep.

"Romanoff, Lunare, we need you."

She seethed all the way to the bridge. Natasha neatly dragged her into a seat before doing so herself, ignoring the heated glare her blonde friend sent her.

Kerry swallowed thickly when _his_ voice came through the speakers, daring to glance at the screen, only to curse when she saw his gaze directed at the camera. Thor was turned from the feed, gripping his chin with a thoughtful expression that creased his brows deeply and she blinked at how foreign it looked on him.

Shaking away the feeling, she focused back on the feed in front of her, listening intently at the calm manner in which Loki spoke. He wasn't panicking, he wasn't bargaining, and his calmness idsturbed her more than she would ever admit out loud. Even in the face of Fury's threat, he remained unflapable and she swallowed when Fury finally left the room.

Loki was staring at the camera again, his bruning emerald eyes locked directly on her until the moniter went black. Stunned silence reigned for several moments and she tightened her fists until she heard bones crack.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner asked, words thick with sarcasm.

"Loki's gonna drag this out." Rogers pointed out, frowned and looked to Thor, who was looking down in contemplative silence. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor remained silent for several more moments, shaking himself out of a daze before responding. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, or any other world." He explained and dread curled in her belly.

"So they're giving him an army, in exchange for the Tesseract?" Kerry asked quietly and Thor nodded, anguish twisting up his features even more when he turned to her. His, and Loki's for that matter, reactions to her were unsettling, to say the least.

"An army?" Rogers asked, almost in disbelief. "From space?"

"Did he stutter?" Kerry hissed, bewildered at the sudden rush of anger she felt and she silently blinked in apology at the soldier.

"So, he's building another portal." Banner said, either ignoring or oblivious to the short spat. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked, recognition painted all over his face.

Banner nodded. "He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a firend." Thor said calmly and Kerry had a feeling only she and Natasha actually knew the details about Thor's previous jaunt on earth.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell." Natasha's fist tightened on the tabletop. "Along wiht one of ours."

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him." Rogers finally said, clearly no longer able to withold his curiousity. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." Banner annoucned dryly, fiddling with his fingers. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him."

She saw the rage build in Thor's expression at the blatant disrespect to his brother and felt that same anger well inside her. She held it in, aware that giving Loki any more ammunition in his delusions wasn't a good idea.

"I don't care how you speak." The burly man took a step forward, his eyes narrowing. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. He's my brother."

She hated how his eyes met hers, as if he expected her to join in the defense of the man that had killed and brainwashed her comrades. What she hated more,was the fact that a part of her screamed to do just that.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha announced dryly, looking up from her hands to send Thor a flat look.

"He's adopted." The Asgardian shot back, as if that explained everything.

"He's what?!" The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them and everyone turned to stare at her. Maria and Natasha's gazes were understanding, Thor's hopeful, while Banner and Rogers looked at her like _she _was crazy.

"I forgot, you were lost before..." Thor trailed off at her panicked look. She hadn't told anyone what she'd discovered. No one but Fury, Maria, Natasha, and the scientist, knew about her not being human and she wanted to keep it that way.

Banner, thankfully, steered the conversation away from her. She nearly sighed when the eyes left her, though Rogers sent her another suspicious look before he focused on the doctor.

"Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" He asked, brow creased in thought.

"It's a stabalizing agent." All eyes turned ot the door to see Stark and Coulson strolling in. Stark did most of said strolling. "I'll lfy you there, keep the love alive." He said to Coulson, displaying what Pepper had classified as his ADHD. "MEans the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD." He turned to Thor nonchalantly. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

"Can we get back to the Iridium?" Kerry asked tersely and Stark smirked lighlty at her, the expression setting her teeth on edge.

"Sure thing, half-pint." He turned from her and wandered away before she even had the chance to open her mouth and bite back. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." He stopped in front of Fury's monitors. "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship to the top sails." She blinked when he suddenly threw his arm out to the right, pointing at an agent on a computer. "That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

She rolled her eyes and shared a look with Natasha. This was why she liked having Pepper around, as the woman knew how to cut Starks bullshit off at the head.

She rolled her eyes again when Stark covered one eye and looked around the monitors in front of him. "How does Fury do this?"

"He turns." Maria offered dryly and Kerry watched, inwardly amused at Starks brashness as he placed a button sized device under Fury's desk. Choosing to keep quiet, she leaned back in her seat, arms folded tightly across her chest.

Stark turned back. "Well, that sounds exhausting. " He offered to Maria before returning to the subject at hand. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily." He explained. "Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"Did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics when we weren't looking, Stark?" Kerry asked flatly, annoyed already with Stark and he hadn't even been there for more than five minutes.

"Last night, the packet. Selvig's notes, the Extraction theory papers?" He listed off, clearly hoping for a positive reaction. "Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Rogers asked, looking like his brain hurt. Kerry held in a snicker, aware of how confused the poor soldier still was about the new age he was in.

"He'd have heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Banner explained, pacing, and she watched as Rogers' lost expression worsened.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Stark pointed out and Banner nodded, looking thoughtful.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally! Someone who speaks English!" Stark cheered and she shared another look with Natasha.

"Is that what just happened?" Rogers asked, confusion prevalent on his face.

Banner and Stark shook hands and Stark's next words made a wide smirk spread across her lips.

"It's goo to meet you, Dr. Banner." Stark said, genuine respect lining his words. "Your work on anti-electron collision is unparalleled." A slightly worried expression crossed his face, his next words rushing out. "And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous, green rage monster."

"Careful, Stark." Kerry called out, eyebrow raised mockingly. "We already have enough fanboys on this ship as it is."

Banner looked down at the praise, though she caught a faint smirk when he heard her words. "Thanks." He mumbled at Stark, looking up when the doors opened and Fury stalked through them.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube." The Director announced, fixing Stark with his famous 'one-eyed stare'. "I was hoping you might join him."

Rogers spoke before Stark could answer. "I say we start with that stick of his." He looked around the room. "It might be magical, but it works an awful like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube." Fury said, the ire rising in his voice. "And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor repeated, his brow furrowed in confusion and the expression caused a familiar ache inside her. "I do not understand."

"I do!" Rogers all but cheered, looking excited about something for the first time. "I understood that."

Stark rolled his eyes before he turned to Banner and gestured to the door. "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"We'll play some." Banner conceded with a smile and she watched the two leave through the doors. Natasha stood, uncurling like a cat, before she leaned down to whisper in Kerry's ear. The blonde nodded and rose as well, the two assassin's leaving the room before turning down opposite hallways.

* * *

Kerry spun around, catching the bag in a roundhouse before she switched to punching, not even wincing when the bones in her knuckles began to scream in protest.

_Soft emerald eyes gazed at her silently, lips curled into a genuine smile. She shifted, uncomfortable in the silken skirts that she had always forsaken for her mail and leather. Though all discomfort melted away when he turned his adoring gaze to her, fulfilling Frigg's smug promise._

She froze, the violently swinging bag catching her in the stomach and she stumbled back. She fumbled against the wall before aggression welled inside her and she spun, slamming her fist against the wall behind her. The concrete splintered and she pulled her hand away, revealing a dent, cracks spreading from it.

"You always were a fearsome warrior." She turned to see Thor, a faint smile on his face, the expression marred by the worry that creased his brow. "May I?" He asked, approaching and offering his hand.

She raised her own silently, watching as he gently took her hand in his own bear-like one, turning it over. He frowned at the purpling skin, though the rapidly forming blue and purple bruises faded from her knuckles as quickly as they'd come.

"And a fast healer." He mused, looking up and smiling sadly at her. "Mother said it was the Valkyrie in you."

"Frigg." She whispered, unknown sadness churning in her gut, and he nodded.

"Yes, though she does go by Frigga now." Hand still holding hers, he gently led her to the nearby bench. "Kara-"

"Kerry." She said quickly, sharply. "My name is Kerry. I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not-"

"You are, Lady Kerry." She had to give him points for agreeing to call her by the name she wished. If he hadn't, she probably wouldn't have been so keen to listen to what he had to say. "I...my brother can sense it."

That made her eyebrows raise. "He can what?" She repeated flatly and Thor winced.

"Poor description, I know." He conceded and she felt her hackles flatten at the sheepish expression on his face. "When Loki and you," he ignored her look. "Were married, you used magic to bind your life forces, in the event of your death, so that he could find you once again."

"What do you mean, 'in the event of my death'?" She asked carefully and Thor hesitated, his lips pursed. "Thor." She prodded flatly and he sighed heavily.

"You are, or were, the daughter of the Valkyrie Sigrún." He explained slowly and she nodded, having read the story of the reincarnating Valkyrie and her lover, though it never mentioned there being a daughter involved. "As with Sigrún and your father, you were born with the ability to be reincarnated into a different life after death."

"But...Loki made it sound as if..." she paused, aware that if she agreed with this, there was no going back. "As if, Kara, died a long time ago, so why would she just be brought back right now?" She pressed more. "And if...if he's bound to me, why wouldn't he come to me sooner?"

Thor raised a hand to his chin, rubbing thoughtfully before he frowned heavily. "I believe," he began carefully. "That this is not your first life."

Any response she could have formulated was covered by the beeping of her comm. She startled, her hand finally slipping from Thor's to press the small comm in her ear. "Lunare, here."

"I'm going in. Give me twenty minutes."

Natasha cut the link, the words cryptic and short, if not for the suggestion she'd whispered into Kerry's ear back on the bridge. Kerry sighed heavily, reaching for a towel and rubbing her damp face with it before she looked up at Thor.

"I'm needed elsewhere, Thor." She explained and he nodded, looking at her warily.

"If you are going to speak with Loki, mayhaps I should-"

She shook her head and he stopped, his frown deepening with disapproval.

"I need to do this alone." She said simply before rising, sending him a small smile, one he returned widely. She ducked away quickly, heading to her designated room and showering quickly before she dressed herself in her uniform, taking comfort in the gun strapped to her thigh. She ran into Fury, who watched her with blank eyes, his lips curled in faint amusement.

"Taking a swing at our resident 'Savior'?" He asked dryly and she smirked back before she made it to the elevator, turning and facing Fury as she pressed the button.

"Can't let Natasha have all the fun."

Her smirk and bravado faded as soon as the doors closed and panic set in. The visions, once exclusively dreams, were getting worse, and while Thor had managed to clear some of the questions she had, she had a horrible feeling that Loki would be able to answer all of them and more. She didn't pass Natasha, leaving her to believe the other assassin had taken another way, something she appreciated as she might freak out if she ran into anyone.

She inhaled sharply as she came to the doors before she leaned closer. The computer scanned her eye, then her palm, before the doors silently opened, revealing the wide glass cage in the middle of the room. She silently stalked forward before standing still in front of the glass, arms crossed loosely. Staring at the point between his shoulder blades, she counted silently until he let out a sinister, silky chuckle.

"I proclaim to be the God of tricks, and yet now two have managed to sneak up on me." He slowly turned, lips curled into a wide, satisfied smirk. "I knew you'd come."

"This isn't a social call." She said flatly, eyeing him cautiously. "I want answers."

His smirk morphed into a smile and he laughed, the sound infused with joy. The sound of it made her eyes water and she blinked rapidly to stave off the tears. The emotions he elicited from her bewildered her to no end.

"And you, my darling, shall have them."

* * *

**Thoughts? Comments? Questions?**


End file.
